Unite, the union representing the drivers, will have to give seven days’ notice of walkouts. The union’s general secretary, Len McClusky, yesterday refused to rule out the prospect of action over the Easter weekend, the first major holiday getaway of the year.

Labour leader Ed Miliband has yet to condemn the threat of industrial action by Unite, which is one of Labour’s biggest donors.

The industrial
action, backed by 69 per cent of drivers, is not over pay but a dispute
about terms and conditions and safety standards. Matt Draper, national
officer at Unite, said oil companies had posted “staggering” profits
while drivers’ working conditions were under “constant attack”.

The Government was last night understood to be holding emergency meetings with fuel delivery companies and supermarkets.

It is hoping to draft in soldiers specially trained to deliver fuel to the pumps and says it has “robust” contingency plans.

But
analysts said there was already evidence of serious disruption to
supplies and prices. Tom Pering, analyst at energy consultancy Inenco,
said: “The damage [a strike] would pose to the economy would be huge.
The Government cannot afford for this to happen. There is already
evidence of panic buying at the pumps.”

Peter
Roberts, chief executive of the Drivers’ Alliance said: “People will
start panic buying today. By tomorrow many forecourts could have run
out.

“This strike will cause absolute chaos.
There will be huge queues at garages and petrol stations will run out of
fuel. It will likely lead to a rise in pump prices of around eight to
10 pence per litre. This is the worst case scenario coming true for
Britons.”

And Simon Walker, director general of
the Institute of Directors, said: “This is bad news for British
business. A tanker drivers’ strike threatens to clog the arteries of the
economy.”

During the 2000 fuel blockade the nation came to a virtual standstill.

But Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude said the Government had “learnt the lessons” of the past and stood “ready to act”.

Secretary
of State for Energy and Climate Change, Edward Davey criticised the
tanker drivers, saying: “Our economy is just getting back on its feet.
It’s the wrong action at the wrong time.”